Percona maps 2026 growth with new tech & leadership

Percona has outlined a series of product releases, customer deployments, and leadership appointments as it positions itself for growth in 2026. Highlights include new security work for PostgreSQL and expanded support services for Valkey.

In 2025, Percona introduced what it describes as its first open source implementation of Transparent Data Encryption for PostgreSQL. The feature is designed to meet data-at-rest protection requirements often tied to internal controls and regulatory expectations, and it is positioned as an option that does not rely on proprietary extensions.

Percona also expanded round-the-clock support coverage for Valkey, the Redis-compatible in-memory data store created under the Linux Foundation following changes to Redis licensing. The expansion comes as users pay closer attention to governance and licensing terms in widely used infrastructure components.

Services packages

Alongside product work, Percona launched Percona Bundles, a set of fixed-scope consulting and support offerings. The packages cover performance tuning, operational readiness, and scaling database environments, and are aimed at teams running mixed workloads, including AI-related projects.

Kubernetes operators were another focus in 2025. Percona updated operators used to manage MySQL, MongoDB, and PostgreSQL clusters in containerised environments, and added general availability support for native MySQL Group Replication in its Operator for MySQL.

Percona said the updates are intended to help organisations maintain operational stability as database licensing models and upstream project roadmaps shift, and to provide continuity for those seeking to avoid major platform changes.

Enterprise adoption

Percona reported increased use of its software and services among large organisations across multiple industries and deployment models. As an example, it cited BBVA, which it said moved dozens of applications from proprietary platforms to Percona's open source MongoDB offering.

The company also published its first State of Open Source Database Management Report, focusing on how organisations adopt and operate open source databases amid licensing changes, security requirements, and larger-scale enterprise deployments. Percona said the findings point to demand for vendor-neutral options and expert support.

Community activity included two MySQL-focused events. Percona held summits in the US and the EU to bring participants together to discuss the project and its ecosystem, and linked the events to community debate following Oracle decisions around MySQL and staffing.

Awards and recognition

Percona received several industry accolades in 2025. Database Trends and Applications listed it among its Companies That Matter Most in Data and recognised Percona's managed services as a Trend-Setting Product. Percona also received a Winter 2025 Intellyx Digital Innovator Award and was named a finalist in InfoWorld's Technology of the Year awards for data management.

Director of Community Laura Czajkowski said the company's focus remains on engagement with practitioners and contributors.

"While the awards validate our technology, our true strength lies in our people. We are putting our community first and foremost by evolving how we listen and collaborate. By prioritizing active engagement and fostering deeper technical dialogues, we are making the community a core pillar of our development process. For us, community is the backbone of sustainable innovation, and our focus is on ensuring every practitioner feels empowered to help shape the future of the ecosystem. We believe that when we grow together, the entire open source landscape wins."

Leadership changes

Percona outlined several executive changes as it enters 2026. It added three roles to its executive leadership team, naming Doug Miller as Senior Vice President of People & Culture, Gareth Case as Senior Vice President of Marketing, and Nick Herring as Senior Vice President of Global Services.

The additions bring People, Marketing, and Services into the group responsible for executive-level decision-making. Percona linked the expansion to hiring plans, services delivery, and customer-facing operations as demand increases.

Percona also said Peter Farkas joined as Chief Executive Officer in October. It described him as having more than a decade of open source database experience, with a focus on services and community leadership. Percona also pointed to the reintroduction of Percona Live and the transition of Percona Everest into OpenEverest, which it described as an independent open source project with open governance.

Farkas said Percona will continue to focus on open source and customer outcomes in 2026.

"As we reflect on 2025's achievements, and the past two decades of industry leadership, it's clear that an open source-first approach delivers real, measurable value to our customers. In 2026, we will continue to push the boundaries of that value," Farkas said. "I'm excited to lead Percona through this latest chapter, keeping innovation, service excellence, and a commitment to the open source community at the heart of everything we do for many more years to come."